SHERIDAN — “The Bridger Valley is tiny. Must be a community that loves baseball.”

“I thought we might have a Bad News Bears situation when I heard it was just their second year, but they almost beat Cheyenne.”

These were comments overheard at the American Legion Class B baseball tournament held in Sheridan July 20-24.

In only the second year of their existence and the first year of eligibility, the American Legion Post 36 Bridger Valley Regulators qualified as the #2 seed from the Southwest Region. Led by head coach Bud Lawson and assistants Brian Schultz, Mike Woody and Brendan Kesterson, the Regulators went into the tournament as huge underdogs, representing the smallest community by a large margin.

The first game pitted the Regulators against the #1 seed from the Northeast, the Casper Roughnecks. Caleb Gooding took the mound for the Regulators in the opener. There was some trepidation at the plate as the boys could only eke out four hits from Connor Micheli, Dane Catlin, Ashton Eldredge and Josh White, with Micheli driving in the only run. The Bridger Valley team fell 11-1.

The next day witnessed a different team as they faced the Rangers from Riverton. It was win-or-go-home, and the bats came alive as the boys put up 16 hits and 13 runs in a 13-6 victory. Eldredge started the game, but Catlin was the workhorse going six innings and only allowing four runs. Colt Henrie, Josh White and Ashton Eldredge paced the team with three hits apiece. Riverton was the team sent home on Tuesday.

Wednesday saw the hottest day of the summer in Sheridan, with temperatures soaring to 102°. Ashton Eldredge toed the rubber against the Cheyenne Post 6 Hawks. In a back and forth battle in the extreme heat, the Regulators refused to back down. Eldredge lasted the full seven innings, giving up five hits while striking out five. Caden Sweep led the team with three hits, including a deep double to the center field wall. It wasn’t quite enough as the Boys of Summer had their summer end in a 4-2 loss.